Patents

∞ Bogus

Florian Mueller:

I’m starting to see a pattern. For any intellectual property issues facing Linux (or at least the most popular Linux derivative, Android), Linus Torvalds has a standard answer at hand: after admitting that he doesn’t know the facts, he claims that “this [whatever it may be] seems completely bogus.” Or, interchangeably, “totally bogus”.

Great article from Florian.

∞ Balls

John Gruber on Dan Lyons’ crap story: Another way to look at this story, then, is that maybe Google really did want those Nortel patents, and when they didn’t get them, they knew they were in a worse position than … Continued

∞ HTC sues Apple for patent infringement

Reuters: Smartphone maker HTC Corp sued Apple Inc, claiming infringement of three patents through Apple’s sale of Macintosh computers, iPads, iPods, iPhones and other devices. Back and forth, back and forth. Repeat.

∞ Google partners 'welcome' Motorola acquisition with a gun to their head

Google’s Press release: “We welcome today’s news, which demonstrates Google’s deep commitment to defending Android, its partners, and the ecosystem.” – J.K. Shin President, Samsung, Mobile Communications Division “I welcome Google‘s commitment to defending Android and its partners.” – Bert … Continued

∞ Apple looks to buy another $5 billion in patents

Bloomberg: InterDigital’s engineers invented some of the technology for high-speed mobile phone networks now used by the world’s biggest handset makers. The King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based company may fetch more than $5 billion, according to analysts at Algorithm Capital and … Continued

∞ Software and patent trolls

NPR: Patents are a big deal in the software industry right now. Lawsuits are proliferating. Big technology companies are spending billions of dollars to buy up huge patent portfolios in order to defend themselves. Computer programmers say patents are hindering … Continued

∞ FOSS Patents back online after a short outage

Florian Mueller at FOSS Patents: There was some speculation on Twitter about it in light of the fact that I’m vocal about the intellectual property issues facing Android and WebM — just like I’m vocal about issues involving and concerning … Continued

∞ Acer says Apple is starting a patent war

AppleInsider: “As Apple’s patent lawsuits against HTC have created concerns among market watchers, and have even strongly impacted HTC’s stock price, Wang pointed out that the player, which started the patent war, wants either money or market influence and should … Continued

∞ Apple's lead patent lawyer leaves the company

Apple Inc’s chief patent counsel will soon leave the company, at a time when the iPhone maker is fighting numerous legal battles around the world, according to a source familiar with the situation. Interesting that he’s leaving, but I wouldn’t … Continued

∞ Patents don't equal products

Editor’s note: This article was written by Your Mac Life host Shawn King. Last week, The Loop had a story titled Apple patent could prevent you from filming in some venues”. I commented on the story, as I have on … Continued

∞ Apple to bid for Nortel patents

Apple will join Intel, Ericsson and Google in bidding for the patents being sold by bankrupt Canadian company Nortel. The patent sale will be held on June 27, 2011. There are reportedly about 6,000 patents and patent applications on the … Continued